Hobbits in Alaska?

While looking for another waterfall to photograph, I came across this and knew I had to set up my tripod. Used 3 exposures, Photomatix and Photoshop CS5.

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HDR Photo of the Day

Falls near Juneau, Alaska

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Photoshop CS5 HDR

I am trying out the new version of Photoshop CS5. I love the new content aware feature. I do a lot of HDR and tonemapping work so I wanted to compare it with my tool of choice Photomatix.
The first photo is tonemapped in Photomatix using one of my presets. The second photo is done in Photoshop CS5 and its new HDR tool. Both were cleaned up with content aware (hair on sensor) and I used Nik's Color Efex Pro as well.
I think Adobe is finally getting serious about HDR and will give Photomatix a run for its money. I like both photos, but as you can see the Photomatix one is much more saturated and the cloud details are better.
This is my first attempt at Photoshop CS5 HDR tool. More to come I am sure.

Waterfall HDR

I love waterfalls! I love the challenge of getting that smooth silky look of flowing water. When the weather is bad, I look for a waterfall. This is Salmon Creek Falls just outside of Juneau, Alaska. If you can make it outside of the tourist season, you might be the only one there. I have shot these falls several times and never ran across a single person.

I decided to play with Photomatix settings on this one and like the way it turned out.

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Salmon Creek Falls, Juneau, Alaska

Let it Snow HDR

Sun rise behind Pioneer Peak. 3 exposure HDR. Been getting a lot of snow around here! Love it.

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Pioneer Peak

Photographing Hatcher Pass

It is fall time and one of my favorite places to go is Hatcher Pass. It is well known for its winter activities as well, but for me autumn has the colors and light I appreciate.
Hatcher Pass itself can be driven in the summer, the gravel road extends from Wasilla to Willow. I usually do the drive at least once a year.
A few years ago the road was paved to Independence Mine. I would have like to see it remain a dirt road, a lot less traffic. People seem to be "discovering" Hatcher Pass, it gets more crowded every year. I went up to Reed Lakes Trailhead last week and could not get a parking spot.
Here are some shots from this past weekend. I was trying out my new $200 polarizer. The first two shots I used my ND8 filter to slow the water down and not blow out the highlights.

All photos are HDR and processed through Photomatix. I have an HDR tutorial here.

Little Su River

Just before I got wet

Road to Independence Mine

Cabins near The Motherlode Lodge

Just off the road

MotherLode Lodge (looking pretty bad)

Sure wish someone would buy the MotherLode Lodge. It is deteriorating quickly. It is a shame, I have spent many Easters, birthdays, weddings, Mother's Days and Christmas

HDR Photo of the Day Denali ..again

Another Denali photo. Early morning drive up to Denali to capture this one. See how I created this on my tutorial.

HDR has become a favorite way for me to capture landscapes. I used to only capture 3 images when my histogram showed the shadows or highlights going off one end of the graph. The sun was just rising in Fairbanks when I arrived at the Riverboat Discovery. Snapping the fist image gave me this histogram. As you can see by both the histogram and the first photo, the shadows are too dark.

I set my 5D mark II up to bracket 0,-2,+2 EV. You can think of Exposure Values as stops. Setting up exposure bracketing in the 5D works like this.

Exposure Bracketing

I have had luck handholding my camera for 3 fast exposures, but I use my tripod whenever possible. I even use the 2 second timer to activate the shutter. In bracketing mode, it takes all 3 exposures without you touching the camera.

I put all 3 exposures into Photomatix 3.2. It comes with a plugin for Lightroom, so I just export directly to Photomatix using these settings. I will check the reduce ghosting when there is wind or something moved in the frame. Experiment with these settings.

These are the settings I use for my realistic output. As you move down the scale on the light smoothing section, the more surreal you image will become.

This the same image with only the light smoothing changed. I am sure you will find a setting that fits your style.

HDR Ouput

This is the final output from the 3 images. Photomatix processing brings out the colors, shadows and highlights I could not get with one image. I tend to carry my tripod a lot more these days.